Carl Crawford officially activated, will start tonight

Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

Carl Crawford has been activated from the 15-day disabled list, with Zach Lee returning to Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Crawford started (but didn’t finish) the Dodgers’ first three games of the 2016 season and pinch-hit in the fourth, going 3 for 11 with a double.

“Just seeing him jump around and want to be back with the guys and be an active player again, it’s exciting, and we look forward to getting him back in the lineup,” Dave Roberts said.

Roberts talked about how Crawford would fit into an increasingly crowded rotation in left field, with Howie Kendrick, Trayce Thompson and Kiké Hernandez.

“It’s kind of one of those high-class problems,” Roberts said. “We’ve talked about depth, and this is kind of where it’s showing its head a little bit in that now there’s different options, and guys have to be unselfish. Today, it’d be great to get Howie back in there, but for me I’m going to give him a day and get him back in there tomorrow.”

Roberts later added that optimally, Crawford would start three or four times a week.

“We’ve seen there’s a propensity to get injured,” Roberts said. “I think for me, even in the beginning of the season, you saw I took him out just to kind of keep him off his feet, and so the idea of running him out there until he breaks is not something I believe in, so I just try to kind of conserve as much as possible and use that depth.”

Lee was with the big-league club for four games but did not pitch.